


i never thought they'd lock you in a cage

by Phoenix_Allura (Artemis_Autumn_Marie)



Series: Nix's Thominho Week 2018 [1]
Category: The Maze Runner (Movies), The Maze Runner Series - All Media Types, The Maze Runner Series - James Dashner
Genre: Angst, Character Death, Eventual Fluff, Hurt Thomas, M/M, Thominho Week 2018, Trans Male Character, Trans Thomas (Maze Runner), Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-15
Updated: 2018-07-15
Packaged: 2019-06-10 22:03:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15300993
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Artemis_Autumn_Marie/pseuds/Phoenix_Allura
Summary: Role Reversal AU for Thominho Week. This is based on mainly the Death Cure movie with the book mixed in here and there. The first few scenes are from Maze Runner and Scorch Trials to give you a bit of background on what I did with this AU.





	i never thought they'd lock you in a cage

Minho looked around. The ivy seemed to be a constant. He let his eyes wander for a moment before looking back at Thomas and Alby. Alby looked... dead, for lack of a better word, and Thomas just looked exhausted.  
"I hope you enjoyed your time in the Glade." Thomas's voice drew him out of his thoughts. "That's the last you'll ever see of it."  
"No one's ever survived a night in the Glade," Minho repeated what Newt had told him. "But we could. You're smart, quick on your feet, and I-"  
"You've been here what, two days? You don't know anything, shank." The slang sounded awkward, coming from Thomas. "Come on, we've got to get Alby hidden. I'm thinking the ivy will work." Thomas wasn't going to abandon Alby and the Greenie here. He grabbed Alby and dragged him to the wall.  
Minho watched as Thomas dragged Alby over to the wall and leaned against it.  
"I don't think we have much time, we better hurry," Thomas said. Minho joined him at the wall and together they hoisted Alby up inch by inch.  
"We need to move," Thomas said. "The Grievers are coming."

The next morning, Minho watched the sunrise from beside Thomas, legs dangling off the Cliff.  
"We should get back," Thomas muttered. "Let them know we're alive." Minho glanced at the young Keeper. It was weird to think that Thomas, one of the youngest of the Glade, was already a Keeper. Minho was older than Thomas. Minho hauled himself up first.  
"Let's get going, then." Thomas laughed.  
"Since when do you give the orders, Greenie?" Still, he allowed Minho to pull him to his feet and sling an arm around his waist when he struggled to stay up.  
'That's not right, that's not what happened.' Minho woke up with that thought, automatically reaching across the blanket for Thomas. Thomas was gone, though, taken by WICKED. If only things were that simple again if only Thomas was nothing but an arm away. Minho rolled over; it wasn't light yet, he might be able to get some more sleep.

The next time Minho woke, it was to a sunrise, not to a thought, but even so, he remembered Thomas. His smile, however rare, and his laugh, even rarer. He'd be seeing that smile soon enough, though. Today was the day they planned on rescuing Thomas. And Thomas would smile at him, and throw his arms around him, and they'd kiss, the first in a long time, and Thomas would light up in the way Newt said he hadn't for a long before Minho. Minho smiled, imagining it all. Yes, they'd rescue Thomas and the others with him, and together they'd plan to take down WICKED.

Thomas wasn't there. He'd yelled, Minho had heard him, yelled and rattled the chains that held him. But he wasn't there. Minho was happy to see Aris and Harriet, but Thomas wasn't here. Thomas, who was now the youngest of the Gladers, was alone, being experimented on, being tortured. They'd saved a lot of kids today, but Thomas wasn't one of them.  
"We can't go after them, Greenie," Newt said behind him. "All it would end in is pain. Thomas is smart. He'll find a way out." How did Newt sound so sure? What if they drained his blood, cut off his legs, hurt him until he was nothing but a shell of himself? Thomas was smart, but he was also surrounded. Teresa would be there, too, and Minho didn't trust her with Thomas. She'd betrayed them, betrayed him, too many to count. He didn't like her, no matter how many times she insisted it was for the best.  
'Minho, listen to me.' Minho ignored Teresa. She'd taken Thomas; she was hurting him. 'Minho, Thomas is fine. He's been undergoing experiments, yes, but nothing that harms him physically.'  
'And what about mentally? Can you tell me that he won't be traumatized?'  
'You know I can't. But he's better off, trust me. I have a theory I want to test.'  
'Don't you go testing any theories with Thomas, you klunk. If you do, I'll have your head.' Teresa went silent and Minho kicked a rock.  
"If no one will help me, I'll go get him myself." Minho discreetly packed a bag and waited until after dark before heading out to one of the cars. When he went to open the door, he found Newt and Frypan waiting.  
"If you're going back across the Scorch to get Thomas, you'll need help," Frypan told him. "Hop in." Minho shrugged- it wasn't like he had much choice if he wanted to rescue Thomas- and got in the car.

Minho ran across the Scorch, lightning hitting the ground behind him. He turned, looking for Thomas- he'd lost grip of him. What he saw was... horrifying. Thomas was on the ground, on fire, seemingly having a seizure.  
"Thomas!" The sound was ripped away by the wind and torn apart by the thunder. Minho turned and ran toward Thomas, back into the storm.  
"Thomas!" He beat out the fire and cradled Thomas's head in his hand as the seizures died down. When they stopped, and Thomas blinked up at him with a slurred "Minho?" Minho scooped him up and carried him to the warehouse. Everyone stared when they entered.  
"What happened?"  
"He got struck by lightning." There were burns covering Thomas, he was sure, and he set him down on the ground gently, never leaving his side until the next morning, when Jorge took Thomas back to his office for a talk.  
"Minho, wake up. We've got to walk now." Newt's familiar accent cut through the dream. "And I think something's following us." Minho got out of the car, now empty of gas and their bags. Minho took his and followed Frypan and Newt. A car was behind them, catching up fast, and the three began to run. If they were taken back now, they couldn't save Thomas. They wouldn't even be halfway there. The car caught up to them because they couldn't outrun a car.  
"Hop in, boys! You surely didn't think we'd let you save Thomas alone?" Brenda shouted out the window.  
"Honestly, I'm surprised you lasted long enough for your car to run out of gas," Jorge said dryly. "Brenda's right, hermanos. No reason for you to be on your own when there are perfectly capable adults ready and willing to help." Minho climbed in, and Newt and Frypan followed.  
"Let's take down WICKED, boys." Brenda grinned back at them, a nasty, ugly thing, filled with anger and hate. Minho was glad for that anger and hate. It would be what got them out alive.

Thomas stared at the vials of fluid, all from his body. "Now, Thomas, you're a smart boy. I'm sure you and Teresa can work out a cure. If not, well, I guess you'll have to be punished." Thomas already knew what the cure was; he'd used it before. It was his blood, but they hadn't guessed that, hadn't even taken any. Thomas just stared at Ava Paige. He hadn't said a word, not a thing, since he'd been kidnapped, save for yelling at Minho's call on the train. Newt and Minho would think it impossible, he knew, he had a tendency to question everything. He hadn't even talked to Teresa. Not after what she'd done to Minho. So he stayed silent now.  
"Thomas, we're so close to a cure. Please, think of the children you could save." Teresa always knew how to get him, didn't she? Still, he said nothing, but he got up and gestured for them to leave, then pointed at the cameras and made a 'Kill them' motion.  
"Thomas-" Teresa started.  
"Leave him be, Teresa." Ava was watching him. "Follow his instructions. I'm sure we'll have a cure by day's end." The threat in her tone was hard to miss, but Thomas didn't mind. If this went correctly, he'd be dead by then anyway.

Thomas was in that building somewhere. He was in that building, hurting, maybe even dead. Gally got them in, but it was Teresa who led them straight to Thomas.  
"Teresa, the day is almost done. Go check on Thomas. See if he has a cure." They followed her to the third floor, leaving Gally with the kids. He and Brenda would get them out.  
"Thomas! Thomas!" Teresa knocked but eventually just opened the door, shutting it before they could see what was going on inside. She came out a few minutes later, pale. "You two, go find Ava and bring her up." Having no choice but to obey, they did. And they finally got to see Thomas again.

Thomas hooked himself to the I.V.s: One to replace fluid and another to draw his blood. He was careful, stopping every ten minutes and mixing up the cure. By the time Ava came to check on him, he would have at least a hundred vials, enough for all the kids downstairs, and he'd be dead or close to it. Maybe too close to save. When Teresa started knocking on the door, he barely heard it. When she stopped drawing his blood, he barely felt it.  
"Oh, Thomas, you knew all along!" She said quietly. He heard her open the door and say something to someone outside. His one regret, he thought, was not seeing Minho again.

Thomas was pale, paler than any living human should be. He looked... dead. Thomas... No, he couldn't be. He was still alive, just tricking Teresa and Ava. But how would he do that? Minho felt a hand on his arm. "We have to go. They're going to test the kids." The kids... Gally and Brenda were with them. If they got caught, it was all over. Minho and Newt were almost out of the building when Janson caught them.

Thomas was dimly aware of medical assistants around him. "He hasn't lost so much blood that it's fatal, ma'am, just enough that he won't be able to make the cure for several months."  
"We won't need the cure for several months." That was Teresa. "From this, we can make a vaccine. It will be mandatory for everyone twelve and under. I believe that out of the 150 vials we have here, we can get 450 doses of the cure. That's all the infected kids and about half the infected adults in the city. The healthy can either get vaccinated or just wait until we have more." So his blood wouldn't go to waste, but he wouldn't die, either. "Get him something to eat and put him in his room. I'll figure out something to regenerate blood faster than the normal human rate." He'd figured Teresa would do something like that. "And let Janson know to find other immune girls. When he's well, we'll need him to pass on his genes." Thomas shivered at the thought. He didn't want to have kids this way, even if it would save the human race. They'd just end up as experiments. And besides, it wouldn't even work.  
And then the alarms went off.

"And just where do you think you're going?" They turned and ran for the elevator as the alarms blared, heading back to Thomas.

"Put him in his room! His friends have come for him!" The guards lifted Thomas off the bed, and he went limp, still holding the applesauce they'd made him eat. He'd figure something out. The guards were soon distracted and left Thomas's door unlocked when they left him there. He sat on the bed for a few minutes, finishing the applesauce and gaining his strength. Now was the time for action.

Thomas wasn't there, he wasn't in the room he'd been in before. Minho started to panic. He joined Newt in the hallway, where he was holding off the guards. They were in a shootout.

Thomas heard shooting down the hall, by the lab he'd been in, and walked toward it on shaky legs. He took a gun from the body of the guard, turning the corner with it in front of him.

One of the guards fell, shot in the back of the head, and then the other. Minho stopped shooting and nearly dropped his gun. Thomas was right there.  
'Thomas!" They ran to each other and Minho wrapped himself around the smaller boy. Thomas was so skinny. Minho felt Newt join their hug, burying his face in Thomas's shoulder.  
"We have to get out of here." Thomas pulled away after a long moment. "There will be more guards coming. We can't use the stairs or the elevators."  
"What do you suggest we do then, Tommy?" Newt frowned.  
"Jump out a window. There's one right in there. We go in, barricade the door, break the glass, and jump into the water." Minho held Thomas tightly as they walked through the door. Thomas took the time to gather of the vials of cure that were left and wrap them up, tucking them into his shirt before helping them move the table in front of the door. The effort seemed to take a lot out of him, and Minho glanced at Newt. They both looked paler than usual.  
"Wait. Before I forget." Thomas rasped. "Newt, you need this." He took out a vial  
of the cure and grabbed a needle. "Give me your arm." Newt held it out, totally trusting. Thomas injected him with about half the vial's contents. "You should start feeling better soon."  
"Are you sure it'll work?" Newt asked.  
"It worked on Brenda. Now let's get out of here."

Thomas knocked one last hole in the glass and looked down at the water. Minho wrapped his arms around his waist.  
"I'm never letting go of you again." Thomas took a step forward, grabbed Minho's hands, and jumped, pulling Minho with him. Newt jumped right after them, and by the time Janson got to the window, they were gone.

"Everyone calm down, we're leaving in a minute, just waiting for someone to get here." Minho heard Brenda say they made their way to the bus.  
"There's someone out there." Minho heard a young voice say.  
"It's us!" Newt said quickly, just loud enough to be heard.  
"Those are my friends." They heard Brenda explain. They climbed on the bus. There were a dozen or so kids, Jorge, Gally, and of course, Brenda.

They made it out of the parking lot. Janson was waiting for them, along with several armed guards.  
"Thomas, come out. We know you have the cure. Join us, and no one will get hurt." Thomas pressed the cure into Brenda's hands. "Keep the kids in here. Get them out. Get them to Paradise."  
"What are you talking about, Tommy?" Newt asked. Thomas glanced at him, but quickly looked away. "Paradise is something Ava Paige showed me weeks ago. It's a place largely unaffected by the Flare. There are already people there- Paige has been moving older Immunes for months now. The only way to it is through a FlatTrans. I was going to take you myself, but now I can't."  
"No." Minho gripped his arm. "You're not going anywhere. We just found you."  
"He'll blow up the bus if I don't. You'll die. The kids will die."  
"I'm coming with you, then." Thomas shook his head, but he couldn't break Minho's grip. That was what worried him: Thomas usually had no trouble getting away. Now he was so weak, literally shaking, and pale. He needed rest, food, something. "I'm going with you. Newt-"  
"Someone needs to be able to save you bloody shanks. I'll come back." Minho and Thomas stepped off the bus.  
"So glad the two of you could join us," Janson said. "Now, Thomas, the cure."  
"I lost it."  
"What?"  
"We jumped into the water, I was holding it but I must have let go or something. It's at the bottom of that pool."  
"I see. Well, we can always make more. Teresa?"  
"Given how much blood he drew from himself today, he'll need at least six months to recover before we can make the cure."  
"I see. Gather some of your immune friends, Teresa, and test them. We're going to have to start on the next stage."  
"What's the next stage?" Minho whispered as they were led away.  
"He wants me to have children with a bunch of girls," Thomas whispered back. "I don't think anyone gets much say in the matter." Minho's grip tightened.  
"No one's going to touch you." They entered the building and heard the bus start to pull away outside. Thomas glanced back but didn't head toward it. If they started running now, everyone on that bus was doomed. "It won't work anyway, Minho. Just go with what they say for now." They weren't separated- Thomas thought Janson was too worried about what Minho would do to give the order. They were led to a room with a connected bathroom.  
"You two will stay here for now. Bring them some food. We can't have Thomas collapsing before his job has even begun."

As soon as Janson was gone, Minho whirled on Thomas. "What were you thinking!? Now we're stuck here with no way out when we could be gone."  
"Minho, if we had tried to leave, they would have blown the bus to pieces. And without it, the kids wouldn't have gotten far. I wouldn't have gotten far. I've barely eaten today, I was drawing my blood all day in an attempt to kill myself- Minho, we'd still be here, but we'd be locked in a cell instead of in this nice room. Here we get a bed-"  
"Which you need to lay down on." Minho picked Thomas up and put him on the bed, anger replaced with worry. "I understand now, what you were trying to do. Rest, and when you're stronger, we'll figure out a plan to escape."  
"Come here, Minho." Thomas tugged him down. "Lay with me."

Thomas curled up against Minho, keeping his face away from the cameras. "We need to get out sooner than I'll get my strength back. Maybe even tomorrow."  
"We can't do that. You need time." Minho murmured into his hair.  
"I'll have time in Paradise. We can get there quickly from here."  
"We can leave the day after tomorrow at the earliest, shank. You've lost too much weight and too much blood to do anything else so soon."

The plan was set: The guards fed them every three hours during the day, and they only had one guard at a time. When the door opened for their last meal of the day, they would knock the guard out and head for the FlatTrans.  
"It seems too simple," Minho told Thomas.  
"With any luck, Newt will be coming soon, and that'll help."  
"We can't rely on that."  
"I know."

Thomas led Minho through the halls, reminded of his days training him in the Maze. The alarms hadn't gone off yet; no one had noticed the guard was knocked out and they had so far avoided people. Thomas rounded the corner- left, bypass three turns, right, left, right, right, left, and in the closet- and ran into a guard. Instead of saying anything, they fell in step with Minho. They didn't speak, just ran.  
"I figured you would come here, Thomas. The back entrance isn't guarded, after all." That's where Janson thought they were going? Really? "Cooperate, Thomas, and your friend won't die." Thomas took a step forward. Janson looked way too eager at the action than he had any right too. "I knew you would see sense." Thomas took another step and one more. Then he punched the gleeful smile off of Janson's face and continued past him. He had thought that Thomas would agree so easily he hadn't brought any guards with him. Idiot. He started running again. They were only one hall away... please, please, they had to make it. They'd come so far, too far really, not to make it. So, of course, the alarms went off. Didn't they always?

"Now, Thomas, surely you didn't think it'd be that easy." Janson knocked Thomas down far too easily.  
"Thomas, please. Minho, make him see sense. He needs to stay here. He's not strong enough yet to face the city, let alone the desert." Teresa said. Thomas wasn't getting up.  
"He was strong enough to make it this far." Minho ground out.  
"Was he? He's face down on the floor, not getting up, and shaking. Admit it, Minho, whatever plan you had was doomed from the start because of him. Let us take care of him- of both of you. Please. You'll be safe here. After we get enough of the cure, we'll let you go. I swear."  
"I don't trust a word outta your mouth," Minho growled.  
"I've given you no reason to. But you have to trust me on this. He needs medical attention, good food. In exchange, he can help us with the cure." The guard who had run with them had kept a firm grip on Minho's shoulder this whole time.  
"Trust me." They whispered, and Minho realized who it was- he'd hoped but hadn't thought it was true. Newt had come for them. "Should I take this one back to his room?" He asked.  
"You might as well," Teresa said, and Newt spun Minho around roughly, taking him back the way they'd come. They actually went back to the room, though, instead of leaving like Minho thought they were going to.  
"What are we doing here? We have to get out and save Thomas!" Minho protested. Newt sighed.  
"Minho, getting Thomas out is going to be a lot harder than getting you out. They don't care about you, except for the fact that you can be used as leverage against Thomas.”  
“So? We have to get him out, he needs-”  
“He needs everything they said he needs. We’ll get him later this week when we have more people for a rescue.”  
“We need to get him now.” Minho turned and punched the wall. “If we leave him here any longer, who knows what they’ll do to him. He’s already starved and wakes up screaming. I can’t leave him here alone knowing he won’t sleep, knowing that…” Minho trailed off. Newt didn’t know what was going on. Thomas had spent months here.  
“Knowing what, Minho?” Newt’s voice was sharp. “We don’t have time for this. Either you come with me right bloody now, or you wait here with Thomas for a week.”  
“Newt, Janson wants to pair Thomas up with Immune girls. He wants Thomas to have several children. Thomas doesn’t want to, but Janson’s not taking no for an answer.” Minho was quieter than he meant to be. “I’m staying here. I’m not leaving Thomas behind.” I don’t think my heart could take it. Newt ran a hand through his hair. “Fine. I'll get a group together, and then we can get you out and go to Paradise together.”  
“No. Newt, you and whoever is still out there, get to Paradise. Thomas and I will be there soon enough.” Newt put his mask back on. Just in time, too, the door was opening.  
“Janson wants one of us to stay, make sure these two don't try to escape again.” A guard said, guiding Thomas into the room. “And since this is the end of your shift- you went on at two, right- I'll take care of it.”  
“Thank you. I just need to finish reminding him why escaping won't work.” He jerked his head at Minho, and if they could see the guard's face, Minho was sure he'd be smirking.  
“Take your time. And, hey, the doors and walls are soundproof.” The door shut, and the first thing Minho and Newt did was get Thomas to the bed.  
“Tommy, can you hear me?” He'd had some trouble with his hearing after the lightning storm; he didn't seem to be responding to auditory stimuli.  
“Let him rest, Newt. We can't get out now anyway. I'll check with him when he wakes up.”  
“I wish I didn't have to leave you like this.”  
“You don't have a choice. Now go, before I kick you out.” Newt pressed his hand to Thomas’s face.  
“Let him know I was here. I'll take the others to Paradise, Minho, and we'll plan from there.”  
“You won't have to wait for long,” Minho promised. Newt left. There wasn't much for Minho to do- he had no idea what Thomas was doing with the toaster they'd been given- and Thomas had either passed out or had been knocked unconscious. Minho sat on the bed next to him for a minute before curling around him protectively.

Thomas woke up to warm arms around his waist.  
“Good to see you're awake. What happened?”  
“They didn't knock me unconscious- I passed out.”  
“You need to eat something. I can feel your ribs.”  
“One meal won't change that.”  
“At the end of the week, we're leaving,” Minho said it so firmly it was hard to question him. “Newt and the others are hopefully in Paradise by now. The soonest they can get to us is the end of the week. We're going to try and escape again at the same time, but in the morning, when they normally take us for testing.” Thomas, still half asleep, nodded and turned around so he could put his head on Minho’s chest comfortably.  
“Boys? Are you awake? I'm Dr. Aelia Jazlyn. Chancellor Page sent me to check up on you.”  
“I’m awake, but Thomas is half-asleep,” Minho called. That name… Thomas knew It, he was sure.  
“That’s fine. I can give you your checkup and then take a look at Thomas.” The door opened, and Minho gently pushed Thomas off him. Thomas only heard snippets of the conversation.  
“More muscle mass than normal for your age… Good reflexes… no sign of any recent illness… Alright, you’re good.” Then Minho was shaking him awake.  
“Thomas, I need you to…” Thomas zoned out and just did what she told him. He couldn’t seem to think straight, his head was full of fog.  
“Thomas, you can lay back down now. He’s malnourished, as you know, and running a low fever. It’s likely he’s caught the flu bug. I’ll send some medicine up for him take and also heavily suggest that more food is sent up to the both of you. Have you been giving him some of your food?” Minho must have nodded. “Well, you both need your strength for what’s to come. I won’t just suggest more food, I’ll insist upon it.”  
“Thank you.” The door shut and Minho returned to bed.  
“You just had to go and get sick on me, didn’t you, Thomas? Well, we’ll both be eating more this week, and I think we might have an ally among the staff. If there’s one, it’s likely there are more.”  
“Yeah,” Thomas said.  
“Go to sleep, Thomas. I’ll still be here when you wake up.” Minho kissed his forehead and Thomas fell back asleep.

Thomas’s fever had gone away after three days, and while a week of actually eating enough food wouldn’t do much for his skeletal appearance quite yet, he was more awake and active now that he had the nutrients he needed. Dr. Jazlyn was coming to make sure Thomas’s fever was really gone after breakfast, and then she was going to escort them to one of the downstairs labs.  
“We’ll be Paradise before noon,” Minho whispered.  
“And we'll never have to see Janson’s rat face again.” Thomas grinned up at him.  
“How are you doing, boys? Eating enough?”  
“Of course, Dr. Jazlyn.” Thomas told her.  
“Captain, I'll be taking these boys down to my lab for a full checkup. Thomas recently had a fever and I'm afraid Minho may have caught the bug. Janson wants them both, Thomas especially, in perfect health for what he has planned.”  
“Of course, Dr. Jazlyn. Let me know if you need anything. Would you like an armed escort?” Minho knew that voice- It was Gally.  
“No more than one guard, please.”  
“Then I'll come along myself. It won't be any trouble, Doctor, I assure you I need the chance to stretch my legs a bit.”  
“That will be fine.” Minho and Thomas followed her, Gally walking behind them.  
“Thomas, take these. They wouldn’t let me send them up to your room.” When they reached the lab, she handed Thomas a bottle of pills. “And Minho, you take these. I have a few more things down here than I could bring up.” Dr. Jazlyn ran a few tests on both of them to keep up with appearances, but after an hour, Gally promised to bring them back to their room.  
“I’ll get them back safely. Their room is paradise compared to the barracks, I can tell you that.” Way to be subtle, Gally. Of course, Gally didn't take them back to their room. Instead, they ended up in a secluded hallway not far from the closet.  
“Let me radio Newt, let him know I got you here. He and Brenda are somewhere. Oh, and so is Teresa. She insisted on helping.” Minho ground his teeth together.  
“She's never caused us anything but trouble.” Gally didn't know, he hasn't been there. The betrayal, the name card, what she'd done. Newt knew, though… why hadn't he said anything?  
“Hey, Newt, I got them. We're leaving now.”  
“Alright. I'm a few minutes out, but I'll be there soon.” Brenda, dressed as a nurse, saw them and strode over.  
“Lost, Captain?”  
“No, ma’am. Just taking these two back to their room.”  
“From what I understand, they can be a bit tricky.”  
“I'll be fine, ma’am.”  
“I'm sure you will. Ease a girl’s mind and let me walk with you, won't you?”  
“Of course, ma’am.”  
“The Captain and I are acquainted.” Brenda said. It had to be a message for Newt.  
“I haven't seen him today.” Came from over Gally’s radio. “I may see him soon, though.”  
“Indeed you may see your captain soon, soldier. You are not meant to be in this section of the building, and from my understanding, you are not meant to be chatting with your girlfriend.” Teresa, of all people, sneered. “Janson, if I may?”  
“Please do. Take him away, Teresa.” Janson was close. But Teresa had gotten herself and Newt out of there. They'd all be safe soon.  
“Minho, you bloody idiot, you should have left with me!” Newt hissed as he and Teresa joined them and they continued down the hallway.  
“It’s a good thing I didn’t; Thomas got sick. He had a fever for a few days.” Minho replied. Newt sighed and hugged Thomas tightly as Thomas buried his head in his neck. Then Newt reached over and tugged Minho into the hug. They stayed like that for a minute.  
“Well, Tommy, soon enough you won’t have to deal with WICKED ever again. Can’t promise you won’t have to deal with fevers, though.” Thomas laughed quietly.  
“I wouldn’t expect you to, Newt.” The five them spoke quietly, trying not to draw attention to themselves. Then Teresa’s com went off.  
“Teresa, hurry back. We have a situation. Subjects A7 and A2 have not returned to their room.” The group sped up as Teresa responded.  
“Why did they leave in the first place?”  
“Dr. Jazlyn wanted to run full checkups on them as A2, Thomas, has been ill.”  
“Where is Dr. Jazlyn now? Did she get them from their room?”  
“She is in her lab, and she did, escorted by their guard. The guard was charged with bringing them back. Given what happened last week, it’s not a reach to say this is another escape attempt.” Well, it didn't sound like they suspected Dr. Jazlyn of anything. That was good. Minho didn't want her to get hurt.  
“I’m on my way. Have the cameras picked anything up?”  
“Teresa, you know we don’t have cameras on the lab level.”  
“They would have to go one floor lower to get out.”  
“You smart girl, figuring things out before the rest of us. I’ll get them on that right away.” Janson was pleased, of course, he thought he was going to catch them again.  
“Thank you,” Teresa said. “I'm near the hallway leading from Dr. Jazlyn’s lab. If they were meeting up with someone, it would likely be here. I'll check it out and make my way up to you.”  
“Good idea, Teresa.” Was it just Minho or did Janson sound closer? “Hurry, though, we don’t know what these two will do if you find them.” Thomas stepped closer to Minho and shared a look with both of them. Janson was definitely closer.  
“Of course, sir. I’ll be there in a few minutes. Are you in control room A or viewing room B? My map is off. I think they messed with the sensors.” Why would Teresa still have her map on her? They could track her with it! Minho glanced back. She didn’t actually seem to have it, but it was a slip that could cause them to get caught.  
“I’m sure they did. Minho is as smart as you are, and Thomas has always had potential. If any of their friends are helping them to escape, then it will be even worse.”  
“Is Dr. Paige there? I know she has an interest in Minho, and Thomas, to an extent.”  
“She is not. I’ll send for her now, if it concerns you so.”  
“Thank you, sir.” Why Teresa had switched to calling Janson sir, Minho didn’t know.  
“Teresa, we’ve discussed this. No need to call me sir.”  
“Sorry, Janson, it was a habit for such a long time and with the stress of today and the past week, I just slipped back into it.”  
“It’s quite alright, Teresa. After all, I know you’ll always come back to us.” They turned the corner, almost running now, high on the idea of freedom.  
“I’m sorry,” Teresa whispered. “I’m so sorry.” She’d fallen behind even Newt, with his limp. “They were going to kill you, Minho.” She held a gun in her hands, finger on the trigger, shaking.  
“Yeah, I’ve heard that before,” Minho growled.  
“I am sorry, Minho. But if you had your memories back, if any of you had all your memories, you’d agree with me.”  
“Let’s keep moving. She’s trying to keep us here.” Thomas said, pulling Minho along.  
“Don’t, Thomas. If you move, I have to shoot you. Please, Thomas, don’t move.” Teresa begged. “I don’t want to shoot any of you. Captain, Brenda, you can go- they won’t try to find you. They’ve got enough Immunes already.”  
“We’re not leaving,” Gally said.  
“Then all of you have to go where I say.” Minho had no doubt that they could overtake her, but would she shoot them in the process? Probably. The way her hands were shaking, she wouldn't shoot well, they likely wouldn't be hit, but it would draw too much attention. If Janson didn't know what was going on already, he would then.  
“Fine,” Minho said. “Take us to your leader.” They all glanced at him, surprised. “She has a gun, and while I have no doubt we could take her down- even Thomas could, and she’s got a good twenty pounds on him right now- but if we tried, she’d start shooting, and that would just draw unwanted attention. If Janson doesn’t already know what’s going on, he’d find out pretty quickly.” Thomas nodded.  
“Janson’s not an idiot. Remember, Minho and Teresa trained him themselves. He knows what he’s doing, and he’d be on us in a minute.”  
“I can get you outside,” Teresa said. “I can say you forced my hand, you made you take you outside so that Newt, Brenda, and Gally could get away without any trouble. So you could make sure of it, in return for turning yourselves in. I can still get you out.” That’s when Minho realized that Teresa didn’t know about Paradise, about the FlatTrans.  
“Then do it. It's our best option, isn’t it?” Newt studied him curiously. This wasn't his usual style, and everyone there knew it. But if they wanted to get out, they had to do things differently. Before, they’d just played right into WICKED’s hand when they thought they were hurting them. And Teresa had changed her tune. Before, she’d said she’d let Gally and Brenda go if they wanted to. Now she was including Newt, and Minho wanted to know why. Teresa led them out of the building, talking to Janson and Paige all the while.  
“Thomas and Minho are turning themselves in.”  
“I’m glad they saw some sense,” Janson said.  
“That’s not at all like them.” Paige sounded like she was frowning. “What did you give them?”  
“I’m taking them outside so they can be sure that Gally, Brenda, and Newt leave safely. That’s the deal.”  
“Well, I was hoping we could keep Newt. He's the first one the cure has worked on., isn’t he?” Paige asked. “He should have succumbed to the Flare days ago.”  
“They won’t negotiate, Doctor. Either all three leave, or they… They…”  
“They what, Teresa?” Janson, impatient as always.  
“They’ll jump me, take my gun, kill me and then themselves.”  
“Would you like a guard, Teresa?” Paige asked. Thomas grabbed the com from her.  
“Sending a guard will only make the situation worse, Doctor.”  
“If you say so, Thomas. Nice to know you’re feeling up to an escape attempt, though. Surely soon you’ll be ready to begin what will be known as Phase Four of the Maze Trials.”  
“Oh, I’ll never be ready for that.” Newt looked like he was ready to laugh. He knew something Minho didn’t, something that made Phase Four impossible, likely.  
“You say that now, Thomas, but surely you want children? Surely you want to save the human race?” Janson put in. Thomas didn’t say anything, and Teresa took the com back.  
“Teresa, let us know when you've let them go. We’ll send a guard then.” Paige said.  
“I will, Doctor.” 

Teresa led them out the front doors, seen by everyone. Thomas couldn’t believe it. But he knew why; the few sympathetic to them would now be turned against them because of this show. So he and Minho hugged Newt and Brenda goodbye, and Minho even hugged Gally. Then Teresa shoved them. She shoved Thomas onto Gally and held her gun to his head.  
“Run. All of you. Now.” None of them questioned it, and they heard shouts over her com as they ran. Janson was not pleased. Then footsteps, and a gunshot. None of them looked back, but unless Teresa had fired her gun, she was dead. Thomas felt a tinge of guilt like in another universe her death was his fault. But she had made her choice, and besides, she might not even be dead. Thomas fought the urge to look back at the girl who had betrayed his boyfriend, betrayed all of them, over and over, but every time turned it around so WICKED was the one betrayed. They ran, ran until the guards were shouting at the top of their lungs and they couldn’t hear them. Ran until the building was nothing but a line behind them.  
At least, that’s how it went in Thomas’s head. They didn’t get caught, didn’t have to go back, didn’t have to see Teresa on the ground, a bullet through her chest, bleeding out slowly as her empty eyes stared up at them like an accusation. They were brought back inside, but not to the room they’d had before. Instead, they were taken to a bare room and left there for hours. Finally, someone came and got them, one at a time. Brenda and Gally never returned. Newt did, with minimal bruising and I.V. dots on his arms. Minho returned with a black eye, sprained wrist, and covered in bruises. Then it was Thomas’s turn.  
“Since you keep coming to this hallway, I assume there is something here. Show us where it is.” Janson demanded.  
“No,” Thomas said.  
“Janson, this clearly isn’t working. Why don’t you let them rest and heal, eat a good meal? Perhaps they'd be more willing to talk then.” Paige suggested.  
“We’ve tried that tactic, Dr. Paige, and it doesn’t do a damn thing. No, this will work eventually.” One of the guards pistol whipped Thomas.  
“Now, Thomas, what and where is the thing you’re looking for?”  
“The closet,” Thomas said. “I’m looking for Narnia.” He had no idea where that came from. Janson growled, and Thomas was shoved to the ground and his shoulder wrenched out of socket.  
“Even your little boyfriend didn't give us this much trouble. Perhaps you need a new method of persuasion. Did seeing Teresa dead hurt you, Thomas?” Janson pulled a gun and leveled it on Thomas. “Will it hurt more if it’s one of your friends?” Brenda and Gally were pulled into the hallway, bound and gagged, guns on both their heads. “Tell me what it is we’re looking for and where to it, and they don’t get hurt, Thomas.” They both shook their heads, and Thomas knew the feeling. Hadn’t he stood with Minho when he was ready to blow himself up, all those months ago? He didn’t say anything.  
“Very well.” Janson nodded, and Thomas screwed his eyes shut. “Open your eyes, Thomas, this was your decision.” A gun went off, and the echo sounded in Thomas’s head far longer than it had actually been there. “Make him open his eyes.” He heard Janson say, distantly. He didn’t want to look at Gally or Brenda’s body; didn’t want to see his friends dead and bloody on the floor. But they pried open his eyes and made him look. Ava Paige lay dead on the ground. Gally and Brenda’s eyes were wide with shock and relief. Thomas exhaled slowly. While Paige had been a sort-of ally, seeing her on the ground didn’t affect him the way it would have to see Brenda or Gally there.  
“Now, Thomas, what is it you’ve been looking for?” Thomas didn’t answer, and the guard pinning him to the ground yanked on his dislocated shoulder again.  
“I’ll give you one more chance, Thomas. One more chance. Now tell me, it is it you’ve been looking for?” Janson wouldn’t believe him anyway, he’d used the closet as a joke.  
“I told you, Janson. I’m looking for the closet. Maybe I’ll find some friends there.” Janson growled, and Brenda and Gally gaped at him- he’d given the truth, but it wasn’t what Janson wanted.  
“You little lying brat, thinking you could make this into a joke. Maybe your boyfriend will tell us what we’re looking for if he sees you like this, but that’s for another time. Hit him again, for good measure.” Janson called over his shoulder as he left. The guard holding his arm pulled it tight against his back, and then-

Minho was panicking. They’d brought Brenda, Gally, and Thomas back, but Thomas was unconscious, covered in bruises, and had a broken arm and the same shoulder was dislocated. They didn’t know how to deal with this.  
“Thomas did tell him,” Gally said. “He told him we were looking for the closet. Janson didn’t believe him. I think next time they’re going to torture Thomas in front of you to get you to break.” Minho pulled Thomas closer to him, careful of his injured arm. Why couldn’t they send someone to fix them up? Or least stabilize Thomas’s arm. The door opened, but Minho paid it no mind.  
“Prisoners, Dr. Jazlyn has been brought here because she has helped two of you before. She is coming to see you again. If you try anything, we’ll shoot all of you.”  
“We’re not going to try anything,” Brenda said. Dr. Jazlyn made her rounds, looking at everyone before coming over to Minho and Thomas.  
“Can you lay him flat, please? It’ll be easier to put his shoulder back in place that way. It’s better, right now, that he’s out. This hurts a lot.” Minho shifted Thomas from his lap to the floor gently. Dr. Jazlyn moved Thomas’s elbow slowly, keeping it at ninety degrees, and rotated his shoulder slowly outward. She pushed it in gently, and the socket popped.  
“Don’t move him yet. I need to set his arm.” She said when Minho went to cradle him again. Thankfully, it was a minor fracture. Dr. Jazlyn put Thomas’s arm in a sling and strapped an ice pack on his shoulder. “He’ll need to rest it for several weeks, perhaps even a few months with that fracture, then start physical therapy.”  
“I wish you could come with us,” Brenda said.  
“Perhaps I can. I have my enemies here, and if I were to disappear Janson wouldn’t take notice. I could leave tomorrow evening. I want to make sure Thomas wakes up and is doing well for his condition before I leave.” That was reasonable.  
“Please do. I don’t think we have nearly enough doctors in Paradise.” Newt said. “Bring as much equipment as you can.”  
“I will,” Dr. Jazlyn promised. “I’ll be back tomorrow morning with more supplies now that I know what I’m dealing with.” She pitched her voice so the guards, outside the door, could hear. The glimmer of hope she left them with was more than enough.

Thomas woke up and tried to stretch his arms, only to find that his right wouldn’t move.  
“Tommy, you’ve got a dislocated shoulder and your forearm is fractured. It’s in a sling. Sit up now, drink this.” Newt spoke in a low voice. “I only just got Minho to sleep, he hasn’t since you were taken. I don’t think you’ll stay awake long anyway.” Thomas obeyed, blinking. That was right. He and Brenda and Gally must have been brought back to their cell. “I’d hug you, but I fear I’d hurt you. Dr. Jazlyn will be here soon, and she’ll wake you again. For now, though, sleep.” Thomas went back to sleep, vaguely recognizing that it was Minho who held him.

“Thomas, wake up.” Minho woke his sleeping boyfriend with a soft voice, but it worried him how long it took for Thomas's eyes to open. He was usually up fairly quickly.  
“Janson told me that today is the last day I can see to you, which is just as well. I’m leaving as it is. You’re all healing up well enough as it is. Is there any pain in your shoulder, Thomas?” Dy. Jazlyn asked.  
“A bit,” Thomas said.  
“Well, I’ll leave some painkillers with you, and this ice should last a while- It’s still quite swollen.” After she set Thomas up, Dr. Jazlyn turned to the rest of them. “How long do you think it will be before you can leave?”  
“We can’t get out of here, and I don’t think Janson will bring us all out at once. I suppose next time, we could knock out the guards and run. Janson doesn't show for a few minutes, and we all know where it is. I'm not sure that would work for Thomas, though, with his arm.” Newt said. “One of us would have to be with him, or he'd have to slip away.”  
“Then that's our plan,” Gally said. “We'll just have to hope they take Thomas with someone else.” Minho nodded along; the plan made sense. The question was could whoever was with Thomas protect him from the other guard after knocking one out. Or if Thomas couldn’t get away… Then they’d never see him again. 

Thomas was never this quiet, and he could tell it was concerning everyone. They were telling Brenda stories about the Glade, about her brother, and trying to get him to join in. He didn’t. Part of it was that he was still not used to talking after months of completely ignoring attempts to get him to. Even after Minho joined him, he hadn’t been able to talk for long- his voice was shucked after only a minute or two. Now, he could talk, it wasn’t as much of a problem. But he didn’t want to, and that was. He’d never actively wanted to silent before, not that he could remember. There was a term for it, somewhere, he knew.  
“He talked to Janson just fine.” Brenda frowned at him when he looked at her.  
“Yeah, to protect us,” Gally said. “He mouthed off and made a joke of what Janson wanted to get us thrown back here, where no one’s hurt us. Look, he’s been here, locked up, for months. Minho, you said yourself that his voice sounded horrible for a few days when he spoke. It could be that.”  
“It is.” Everyone looked at him. “Partly, anyway.” And yeah, there was rasp he hadn’t gotten rid of yet. “Also, most of the time, I just…” He trailed off.  
“You don’t want to speak.” Brenda finished, and he just nodded. “What did they do, Thomas?”  
“That is something I’ll have to tell you when my voice is actually back.” He said. “And if I told you now, you’d try to break out of here and murder everyone in the building.” He refused to say anything about the subject after that, though he knew he should have. That was a horrible place to leave things, but it also brought memories he wasn’t ready to deal with. Maybe in Paradise. He curled in on himself almost unconsciously when Gally came closer, still asking what happened, as he got louder and louder. Newt and Brenda got him to back off before Thomas had a panic attack though.  
The day passed by, lunch and dinner came and went, and still, no one was taken from their cell. They set up a watch, because the guards didn’t bother to quiet their footsteps this deep in the building- and certainly not at night. They couldn’t be taken by surprise now. If they were, their plan wouldn’t work. Brenda was on the first watch, Newt second, Gally third, Minho forth, and Thomas last. They only gave him a watch because he insisted. But with the five of them to span the night, they should be fine.  
“Thomas, Minho, wake up.” Newt shook them awake. Brenda, still wide-eyed from her own watch, slapped Gally just as Thomas woke up, or so he thought. The steel door smashed against the cement wall so hard Thomas thought it might have cracked. The guards seemed surprised to see them all awake, but they got over it.  
“Subject A5, you’re coming with us.” No one moved for a moment, then Newt stood from where he was crouched next to Thomas.  
“Come on, then, kid.” Newt left. They didn’t restain him at all. It would be easy for him to escape. Thomas started counting down the seconds in his head and then whispered to a sleeping Minho. “He’s safe. Newt’s in Paradise. We’ll see him soon.” Thomas let himself go back to sleep, knowing that Brenda and Gally were splitting Newt’s watch.  
Brenda wasn’t taken until the next morning, with no more fanfare then Newt had. Just a terse “The girl is coming with us.” and three trays of food being dumped on the floor. Thomas counted the seconds again- Brenda didn’t have a limp, she was a faster runner than Newt- and again whispered when she was free.  
“You figured that all out?” Gally asked.  
“Yes. I stayed up last night counting for Newt, too.” Thomas told him. Other than that, they didn’t speak for a long time.  
“I’ll take first watch, Minho, if you’ll split my watch from last night with me. Thomas, you can have the last hour. You need to sleep, as much as you may disagree. Minho and I don’t even have bruises anymore, and you need to heal.”  
“Sleeping won’t heal me overnight, Gally.”  
“No, but it’ll help. And besides, you don’t get enough sleep as it is. You never have, and you know it.”  
“That’s a good plan, Gally. Thomas, don’t argue too much. Your voice is bad enough as it is.” Thomas winced. He’d been trying not to think about it. Funny how resting your voice was meant to heal it, but if you didn’t use it enough, then it was just as bad.  
“What do you think Newt and Brenda are doing?” He asked.  
“Newt’s nicking food from Frypan like he always does,” Gally said. “And Brenda’s found Jorge and is helping him run Paradise as we speak.”  
“And Newt will be right with them. He’s as much a leader as both of them, though he won’t admit it.” Minho added. “Or he’s pranking someone. And Brenda’s pranking him better than he could ever prank her.”  
“No, Newt will be organizing people for things, get something from Fry, and then he’ll get pranked by Brenda,” Thomas told them. He didn’t really know Brenda all that well; they’d only spent a few days together, most of them in this cell. Newt, though, he knew better than better than almost anyone alive.

Two days. That was how long it took for them to return and take Gally. They hadn’t restrained Newt, but they’d held Brenda by the arm, lightly, and with Gally being who he was, they tied his hands in front of him- a horrible decision, really- with a tie, of all things. Apparently WICKED couldn’t afford a pair of handcuffs. Thomas started his countdown again, and a few minutes later, laughed out loud.  
“They’re all safe, Minho. I’m sure that although Gally ‘doesn’t do hugs’, he’ll be hugging Newt, and soon he’ll get into the rhythm of Paradise. He’ll be in it when we get there, and then break out of it for a few days.” Minho chuckled.  
“I’m glad you know that much about our friends, Thomas.”  
“I know more about you.” Thomas looked him in the eye.  
“I know you do. But I know more about me than even you. I’ll tell when we’re in Paradise.” Minho promised, then wondered when exactly he’d decided they were going to taken out of here. They might not, after all.  
“I know you will.” Thomas smiled at him. “You’ll learn more about me, as well.” Minho pulled him close and kissed him. He hoped that whatever happened, they would forever be growing closer and never apart. The door opened twice more that day, but each time, it was only for their meals. If they weren’t taken together, Minho wasn’t sure what would happen to Thomas.

Thomas would like to say that he and Minho spent their time talking, discussing what they hadn’t been able to in months, but it wasn’t true. Mostly they cuddled and even kissed, once in a while. While Thomas would have preferred the sounds of the Glade to those of the hallway outside their cell, he couldn’t say he didn’t mind the solitude and the quiet.  
“Minho, what if they take me before they take you? Or what if they take you before they take me?”  
“Then you slip away. They can’t grip you by both arms, and they won’t tie up. You’re still too skinny to be taken for a threat. But you’re fast and you’re smart, you know that, and you’ll get away.”  
“That’s not what I mean, Minho. What if one of us is left here, alone, for days? Weeks? Months? What happens then, when we start to go insane?”  
“We wouldn’t, Thomas. And Janson wouldn’t leave us in here for that long.”  
“We’ve been here for a week and a half, Minho, eleven days. He absolutely will keep us here alone for that long.”  
“We'll be fine, Thomas. After all, we’ll know that everyone else is in Paradise, safe and happy.” Thomas nodded.

“Subject A7, you're coming with us. A2, they'll be here for you soon.” Minho nodded and kissed Thomas once before pulling back and standing up.  
“I'll see you soon, Thomas.” Minho left with the guards, unbound. He knew that Thomas had started counting the seconds, that he would whisper to an empty room Minho’s fate. He waited until they reached the hallway, as planned weeks ago, and knocked the two guards out. Then he ran as quietly as he could to the closet leading to Paradise. Soon, Thomas would be joining him here- but perhaps he should find a hiding spot, in the other hall, and wait? Thomas couldn’t knock out his guards, after all. But no, Janson would be there by now. So Minho opened the door and stepped through, ready to be away from all of WICKED’s schemes.

Thomas counted the seconds. Just after he whispered, happily, that Minho was free, the doors opened yet again.  
“Subject A2, if you would.” One of his guards when he first arrived, Aria, and her partner, stood at the door. She always spoke to him as though he had a choice in the matter rather than being a prisoner. He stood, starting his own countdown, for there was no one left but himself to save.  
Thomas stood in the hallway where Janson questioned them, thinking. He had no way to escape Aria, she would stop any trick he tried, and her partner was too strong for Thomas to fight.  
“Ah, Thomas, so kind of you to agree to meet me.” Janson, which meant he had to stay here longer.  
“There was no agreeing and you know it.”  
“Your boyfriend, Minho, seems to have disappeared on us. Any idea where he might have gone?”  
“No.”  
“Well, that's a shame. Come, take a walk with me.” Janson led him the opposite direction of the closet. “You see, Thomas if you were to work with me, you would be royalty. You alone have created the cure; it should be you who rules our world now that there are so few of us. You would have anything you wished. Your children would be hailed as princes and princesses, and one of them would rule after you.” Thomas didn’t doubt that Janson would see him on a throne if he could- but Janson would also place himself in a position of power.  
“I don’t want to rule the world, Janson.”  
“You say that now before you have had a taste of power, a taste of what your life could be.”  
“I know that I don’t want the lives of so many in my hands.”  
“So be it. Guards, return him to his cell.” Janson walked off, clearly disappointed, and Aria started to lead Thomas back to his cell.  
“Johnson, go get this kid some food. He needs to eat more.” Johnson listened without protesting, so maybe this was a common thing. “Listen, Thomas, knock me out and run. Johnson won’t be back for about half an hour cause he’ll go to your cell first, and I have the keys.” Thomas couldn't punch her and knock her out, with his arm the way it was, so he slammed her head against the wall and started sprinting. As he ran, he saw people other than guards and Minho for the first time in weeks. This was the lab floor, and scientists paused in their work to stare at him. One stepped into the hallway, holding something Thomas couldn't quite see, and a bang went off behind him. Thomas turned the corner, now out of sight of the labs, and continued running. It seemed he’d been running all his life. Today was the day he’d get to stop.  
He hadn’t thought it’d be so soon, though, as he crashed into someone on his next- and final- turn. He steadied himself and took a step back before looking at who he’d run into. His heart stopped. No. He was dreaming. He had to be. He couldn’t be here. He’d gotten out. He was safe. Yet here he stands, pale, veins visible all along his face and arms. But how? He couldn’t have gotten the Flare. There’s no way. Thomas stared, eyes wide, as he spoke.  
“Thomas, please. I need you to do this. I can’t go back to Paradise, I’ll infect everyone there.”  
“The cure is in Paradise.”  
“But does it work?”  
“Yes. Look at Brenda, she’s stayed healthy.”  
“I know what they did. Before I knocked my guards out, they injected me with a strain of the Flare. I realized only today, after… I was told I was acting oddly for one in Paradise. I knew I had to leave.”  
“The cure. Brenda has the cure. Why didn’t you just go to her?”  
“I don’t know if it will work on this strain of the Flare.”  
“Your symptoms are the same as any Crank’s. There’s no reason it wouldn't.”  
“There’s no reason it would.” Unaccustomed to the heat, to the harsh words spoken to him in this voice, Thomas stepped back.  
“I can't do this. Not to you.”  
“You must. You must, because I ask of it of you, because you know I would do the same for you. It would be a mercy, Thomas, and that is all I ask for. I am sorry I must even ask, but I must, all the same. I haven’t the strength left to do it myself.” Thomas took the gun in his shaking hand and was reminded of Teresa, of how her hands shook and how she shot none of them. If only he could do the same.  
“Come on, Thomas, hurry. You can get away if you shoot me now.”  
“But how will I live without you? How will any of us?” Thomas whispered.  
“You’ll manage, Thomas, you always have. You know that as well as I do. Stop stalling. It will only make it harder on both of us.” Familiar hands took his and guided it to rest the gun on their own head, against the skull that protected the brain that controlled them. Thomas could not stop the trembling of his hands, but he could fulfill this last wish, the last wish of someone so close to him. And so the words spoken, the last words, were not begging. They were not a desperate plea to be killed. Rather, they were quiet, gentle: “Thank you, Tommy.”

“Paradise is not what I expected,” Minho told Gally as they hunted in the woods. “There are more people here than I imagined. We do not turn against each other quickly, if at all.”  
“Not as easily as we did in the Glade that’s for sure. We were all boys, and all teenagers, at that. You’re liking it, though? Have you picked a spot for a house?”  
“Not yet. I’m waiting for Thomas.”  
“You can’t wait too long. These people might give you whatever you want because Thomas is the one who made the cure. What about the plot of land between the stream and the forest? It’s big, and the land is good there. Thomas liked to tend the gardens on his days off before you arrived. He could have a garden of his own.”  
“I’ve seen it. I wish I could have Thomas see it, too, but-”  
“Think of what he’ll say when he comes and sees you already have a house built, for you and your children.” Minho looked at Gally oddly. They couldn’t have children. He told him as much.  
“So he never told you?”  
“Told me what?”  
“I only know because I decided to sneak up on him once when he was showering. Newt is the only other person alive who knows. This secret is something he’s kept for three years, Minho, don’t expect him to give it up in a week. I think we’ve got enough, now, anyway. Let’s go back and get you your land.”

Thomas dropped the gun. It clanged loudly on the floor, but he didn’t care. He had promised he would run. Besides, if the echoes of the gunshot didn’t draw people, then this certainly wouldn’t. Thomas ran down the hall to the closet, behind which lay his fate, the fate of the world. He shut the door behind him, but waited, waited until he heard Janson in the hallway, ordering guards around. Telling them to find him and to take the body back to the labs to do an autopsy and get closer to a cure. A cure they couldn’t have without Thomas. He felt a hint of regret for leaving. The people in the city, those living outside- they were innocent of WICKED’s crimes and didn’t deserve the fate the Flare doomed them to. But he had no choice. He could have a life, finally free of WICKED, and he decided that just this once, he could be selfish. He didn’t notice the tears streaming down his face, nor the blood draining out his side, as he stepped through the FlatTrans.

“Minho!” Minho turned to look at Brenda. “It’s Thomas. He just came through. He’s crying, and he’s been shot, though I don’t think he knows it. Gally’s got him now, he's taking him to Dr. Jazlyn.”  
“I'll handle this, Minho, go,” Fry told him, and Minho ran. Dr. Jazlyn’s clinic was almost dead center in their little village, save only the large fire pit and surrounding benches.  
“Minho, I killed him, I killed him, he asked me to, I'm sorry, I killed him and left him there.” Thomas was babbling when Minho arrived.  
“No, honey, Minho's alive, Brenda's getting him now. Look, there he is.”  
“I think he was apologizing to me,” Minho said softly. “For killing someone.”  
“I killed him, Minho, I had to, I couldn't, not him.” Thomas kept babbling, never acknowledging the wound in his side- or, rather, his stomach.  
“I'm going to have to sedate him, I can't do anything with him like this.” Dr. Jazlyn told him. “Just… keep him calm as you can, maybe find out who he's so upset about killing.” Minho nodded and sat on the bed next to Thomas, wrapping a careful arm around his shoulders.  
“Thomas.” He spoke softly, but he knew Thomas heard him. “What happened?”  
“They came to get me, like they said they would- Aria and her partner, Johnson. I was taken to the hall, like always, and Janson came and said he would make me royalty if I cooperated. I didn’t tell him anything; he ordered me sent back to the cell. Aria made Johnson go and get me food, and told me to knock her out. I did, and then I ran. I… I ran into Newt, turning the corner to get to the closet. He had a gun, and they injected him the Flare, and the cure couldn’t fight it, and he asked me to kill him, my oldest friend, and I did, I shot him in the head.” Thomas sobbed. “I killed him, Minho. I killed our friend. He said it was a mercy to him but… but…”  
“Oh, Thomas,” Minho muttered. He hadn’t seen Newt much today, just when he first arrived. “We’re talking about this later when you aren’t about to bleed out.”  
“Thomas, I'm going to inject you with this sedative, okay? I need to look at the wound on your side.” Dr. Jazlyn shared a look with Minho. Thomas just nodded.  
“I think I was shot.”  
“That does seem to be the case, yes,” Minho told him. “Here, I'll help you lie down.” Minho got Thomas on his back and Dr. Jazlyn found a vein in his arm. Thomas was out within a few minutes, and Dr. Jazlyn waved him out. Minho didn't mind. He knew nothing of medicine, but Clint, their Med-Jack, would. Minho grabbed Clint and sent him over.  
“How's he doing?” Gally asked as he walked to the land he had chosen for himself and Thomas.  
“Dr. Jazlyn gave him a sedative. He was near hysterical, sobbing like crazy. Plus he was shot.”  
“Thomas got shot?”  
“Yeah, in the stomach. He didn't seem to know. I think he'll be out for a while, though, so we might actually finish the house before he’s able to get out here.” They would be pretty far from everyone else, as most people had gathered closer to the center of the village, where all the clinics and shops were. They also had the main kitchen there as well, built long before Minho had arrived. Fry was running it, of course.  
“Well, you've picked out your land, so let's design your house.” Gally clapped him on the shoulder. “I think three stories high, plus a basement, with a big kitchen on the main floor and a kitchenette on the other two floors. What floor would the master be on?” Minho laughed. The two of them didn't need such a big house, but it was fun to think about.  
“Main or second, I think, with guest bedrooms on the third floor. And the second floor doesn't need a kitchenette.”  
“Then what does it need?” Gally asked.  
“I think Thomas will have to be the one to decide that,” Brenda said. “You should get the basic plans done, Minho, and check them with Thomas. Dr. Jazlyn has to go in and do surgery, so the faster you get them made, the more likely he is to forget he saw them and it can still be a surprise.” Minho nodded. He, Gally, and Brenda spent the rest of the day sitting a low table by the fire pit, drawing up plans for the house with their architect, who had designed the rest of the buildings.  
“You are right, Gally, that we will do much for Thomas and Minho; it is Thomas’s blood that saved my son’s life. There is little we would not do. But we will not have a crown over us; we do not want a monarchy.” The architect told them. “This house, it will be bigger than any other building, for two men who cannot have children. It may raise dissent among the people here.”  
“You don’t know all the facts,” Gally told him shortly. “Besides, Thomas and Minho are both good with kids, they could take in some of the orphans we rescue.”  
“And the overfilled orphanage will have fewer children to care for. Yes, I see what you mean. I’ll clear this tomorrow with Jorge and Natalia, and then we’ll lay the groundwork.” All three of them thanked him.  
“Listen, Minho, you’ve been given today to relax and learn how things work around here, but it’s a bit like the Glade in that you’re gonna be put to work right away. We don’t need hunters every day, even with a group this big, and I know the only thing you really did was run.” Gally said. “We’ll find you something that works for you. You can stay with me tonight; I doubt Brenda will want you in her house.” Minho nodded and looked over at the clinic house.  
“You could go and help, you know,” Gally said. “The surgery's over and I’m sure Clint will be glad to have another Med-Jack around.”  
“And,” Minho added to himself, “I’ll have to take care of Thomas when Dr. Jazlyn releases him.”  
“I’ll go and help, but I don’t think it will what I end up doing. It’ll be more Thomas’s thing. Basic first aid skills aren’t a horrible thing to have, anyway.” He said aloud, and Gally started laughing.  
“I’d forgotten. You and Thomas will be farmers, of course. He’ll have his garden, and you might want to plant something other than what he grows.”

Thomas woke up, alone. He could barely remember waking before but he must have, and there had always been people there. Minho, Brenda, Gally, Dr. Jazlyn, even Jorge. Thomas sat up, looking at the bandages on his stomach. No one came, so he stood and walked outside, with no idea how long he had been unconscious or sedated.  
“Thomas!” Gally saw him first, and he hugged him carefully. Brenda was next, and then Minho, grinning, as though he had been given the world.  
“If you're feeling up to a little walk, I'd like to show you around,” Minho told him, slipping a careful arm around him.  
“Maybe you should Dr. Jazlyn clear him first, Minho,” Brenda said.  
“He's good to go. I've already changed the bandages today, and he's healing well. A little exercise should do him well.” Clint said from behind them. “And, Thomas, Brenda if you need anything, Dr. Jazlyn has the back room full of supplies.”  
“I'm good for now,” Brenda said quickly.  
“I'm too malnourished, Clint-”  
“Alright, alright, I got it.” Clint raised his hands and backed away. Minho showed him the fire pit, Fry’s kitchen, and then everything around it. The main indoor meeting place was the ‘Tower’, which was just a long building shaped like a fallen tower. “We eat in here when it rains, but normally we're outside at the fire,” Minho told him. “Do you feel up for a walk along the river?”  
“Can we eat first? By the fire? I'd like to gain some strength back before I try to walk too far.” Thomas smiled at his boyfriend.  
“Of course. I'm sure Fry will whip something up for you.”  
“Of course he will,” Gally added. He'd been following them. “You two are likely just about his favorite people here in Paradise. The two shanks who can't take care of themselves at all.” They walked down the fire, with Gally going to talk to Fry.  
“It’s not what you expected, is it?” Minho asked as Thomas looked around.  
“I thought it would be a bit smaller.”  
“So did I. But everyone here is hardworking and prepared for what might happen. Even the kids. And it’s nice not to be the one in charge for once.” Thomas nodded absently, watching Gally.  
“I’ve got to get back to work now, but Fry sent something over.” Thomas and Minho ate what they could; Thomas couldn’t eat very much, having just woken from a coma with little food, and even Minho couldn’t eat all that Fry sent them.  
“I see his portions are still insane,” Thomas told Minho. Minho shrugged.  
“Yeah, but that’s the way it’s always been. We can’t eat it all, so someone else will come along and finish it. Are you ready to talk that walk now?”  
“Yes.” Minho led Thomas along the path of the river, where the houses were few and far between.  
“Why doesn’t anyone live out here? It’s not that far from the village, and it’s good land.” Thomas frowned.  
“Fear of the river flooding. Notice how those houses are farther back? They don’t want to lose everything should it happen. No one’s in them right now, though, everyone’s working for the day.” They walked a bit farther before Minho stopped.  
“Thomas, close your eyes. Trust me, I’ll guide you.”  
“You know I trust you.” Thomas smiled softly and closed his eyes, looping his arm through Minho’s. Minho led Thomas away from the riverbank for a few steps, then started walking straight ahead.  
“Open your eyes, Thomas.” Thomas opened his eyes, then blinked, and blinked again.  
“You… you built me a house?”  
“Yes. Do you like it?”  
“It's huge, it's amazing, what does the inside look like?”  
“The inside isn't finished yet. We only finished the outside today. It's three stories high, plus a basement, and we can put the master bedroom on either the first or second floor.” Thomas laughed.  
“Let me see it first and then I'll decide.” They went inside, where only the structural walls were up.  
“If we were on the main floor, the master bedroom and ensuite would be here.” Minho showed Thomas a huge room. “It’d be a bit smaller if we were upstairs.” Minho showed him the upstairs room.  
“It is nice, it has quite a view,” Thomas said. “My problem would be, in the future, getting up and down the stairs.”  
“Well, we could move downstairs when we age, or perhaps to a smaller house.”  
“I mean in the nearer future than that, Minho. Has no one told you?”  
“Told me what?”  
“I’m transgender, Minho. Janson wanted me to have children by several immune girls- it wouldn't have worked. I still get my periods, though it’s been a while. I’m too malnourished at the moment.”  
“Is this your way of telling me we can have children?”  
“Yes, Minho.” Thomas rolled his eyes. “Let’s have this be our master bedroom.”  
“Whatever you want, Thomas.” They went through the house, deciding where everything would be. Minho didn’t get his way; they did have a kitchenette on both upper floors. Of course, it would worth it soon enough.

EPILOGUE- Six Years Later

Thomas grinned as he watched his husband chase their four children- the oldest three of them adopted- around their yard from where he worked in the garden. The past six years had been hard on everyone. They had to adjust to life without the technology they were used to, though they did have electricity now. And nightmares ran rampant in the village. But they had good land, were careful of overhunting, and tried not to cut down too many trees. Six years was almost long enough for all the Gladers to forget their time trapped in the Maze, but it would never be long enough to forget those they had lost.  
“Thomas! Come join us!” Minho called, holding their son, Ario, by the ankles.  
“Have you forgotten, Minho?” He called back. “We’ve got to go into the village today- Natalia and Jorge are announcing their successors.”  
“You can still come play with us!” Teresa, their youngest, told him.  
“If you all agree to take a bath afterward, I will.” All four kids nodded eagerly, and Thomas went to join them. He’d tell Minho tonight when the kids were asleep. For now, it was just the six of them, and that was enough.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading this, I hope you liked it! It seriously took me like four weeks to write this, I'm not even kidding. Kudos, comment- constructive criticism if you're going to criticize, please. I'll be back tomorrow!
> 
> Phoenix


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